Best Cookware Material: Copper, Aluminum or Stainless Steel?

A look back into the past at old antique cookware from fancy restaurants reveals a secret about cooking equipment. Although hundreds of years ago the chefs and cooks did not know why, what they did know was that cooking equipment made of copper, with thin tin linings, did a better job with fewer accidents than any other material. The reason copper was considered the best for the finest restaurants, for the rich and nobility was two fold. Copper gives the best conductivity of heat compared to other alternatives. In those days the chefs and senior cooks did not have to do much of the clean up work because slaves or lower ranking servants did all that type of work? If the chefs had been required to do the clean up of cooking utensils they may have desired something else. This type equipment had thin layers of tin to stop chemical reactions.

There are two criteria for good cooking equipment. The material used needs to be able to transfer heat evenly and quickly. It is also very desirable if the material used does not have any chemical reactions with foods that are cooked. In the twentieth century with the introduction of aluminum and stainless steel many options were available for cookware. There was the old standby cast iron skillet, which if properly used is still a great piece of cooking equipment. Aluminum is lightweight and was favored by many but it was soon found that aluminum can have chemical reactions with very acidic foods under certain conditions. The companies that make aluminum cookware developed an anodized surface on aluminum that is mostly non reactive with cooked foods. There are several brands of this type aluminum cookware.

Stainless steel equipment is free from reactions with food but is not the best at heat conductivity unless the heat source is immediately next to the stainless steel. Because of this one of the favored cookware configurations is a stainless steel pot or pan that has a disk of copper melded to the stainless on the bottom where the heat source comes in contact with the pan or skillet.